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Dream to You? More Like Dreamt of Better Writing
The first two episodes were genuinely strong. The setup felt fresh, the characters seemed interesting, and I thought the drama was going to do something a little different. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there and never really managed to fulfil the potential of its opening.For me, the biggest problem is the writing. I don’t think Hwang In-youp is a bad actor, but he really suffers from the material here. The drama clearly wants Woo Soo-bin to feel layered and emotionally complicated, but those layers never fully land. A lot is suggested about him, but not enough is actually developed in a convincing way.
Lee Hye-ri gets the better end of the stick because her character feels more grounded and easier to understand, but even then, the drama repeatedly introduces potentially heavy emotional conflicts and resolves them far too easily.
One example is Joo Yi-jae’s fatal accident and her family’s resentment towards Woo Soo-bin. We are told that there is blame and resentment there, but we rarely feel it. The drama says these emotions exist without really showing the history, tension, or consequences strongly enough, so something that should have carried a lot of emotional weight ends up feeling strangely minor.
I also never fully bought the tension between the male and female leads. There just wasn’t enough friction, longing, or emotional push-and-pull in the beginning. Because of that, when they eventually get together, it doesn’t feel like a major romantic payoff. There is no real “finally” moment because the drama never built enough tension for one.
Another issue is the tone. The drama tries to balance serious themes with comedy, but the two never blend particularly well. At times it feels like you are watching two different shows, and that makes the emotional moments less effective.
Overall, Dream to You had a promising beginning and some interesting ideas, but the writing never managed to develop them properly. There are good actors here and the foundations of a better drama, but too many conflicts are introduced without enough depth or payoff.
Overall: below average and skippable.
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Perfect Hair, Imperfect Drama
The opening is actually interesting enough. Since the drama is built around the female lead trying to figure out what happened, you are solving the puzzle alongside her, and the first episode at least gives you that sense of curiosity.Unfortunately, a few things really let the drama down: the writing, the lack of common sense in certain situations, and a romance that feels more forced than convincing.
The chemistry between the main couple just did not work for me.
Jung Hae-in is, as always, very good-looking and charismatic, and he brings the same quiet, reliable charm he has carried in many of his previous roles. The problem is that his character is supposed to be a mobster, yet he never really feels particularly different from the Jung Hae-in we have seen before. He is good in the role, but the character itself never becomes especially distinctive.
I had more trouble connecting with Ha Young’s character. She is obviously beautiful, but strangely, that became one of my biggest problems with the drama. Everything is too polished.
Her hair is perfectly blown out and styled in almost every single scene. Even when she is being tortured or going through something traumatic, she somehow looks completely put together. After a point, it starts feeling less like you are watching real people in difficult situations and more like you are watching an advertisement.
And that shiny, overly styled presentation creates distance. I never really forgot that I was watching actors in a drama.
The romance itself also becomes repetitive. There simply isn’t enough chemistry, tension, or emotional development to hold it together. Combine that with weak writing and, eventually, you just stop caring about what happens to the characters.
The comedy is fine. Some moments work, but quite a few feel like clearly designated "this is the comedy scene” moments rather than humour naturally coming from the characters or their banter.
Ironically, I found some of the supporting characters more interesting than the leads. Lee Jae-won as Ahn Ki-jun and Choi Yu-ju as Min Su-ji had a storyline with more personality, depth, and surprisingly good chemistry.
The drama does introduce potentially meaningful conflicts, but they are either dragged out or handled without enough conviction. The problems are supposed to feel big, but the writing does not always make you believe in their emotional weight.
And yes, I probably could have overlooked quite a lot of this and continued watching comfortably…
…but the female lead’s perfectly styled hair bothered me an unreasonable amount.😂
I know that sounds petty, but it represents my larger problem with the show: everything feels too shiny and manufactured.
The memory-loss setup is nothing new, the romance never becomes compelling enough to elevate it, and the writing is not strong enough to compensate.
That said, I can see some people enjoying it. If you want something fluffy, glossy, easy to watch, and you like the leads, you may have a perfectly good time.
But if you need strong chemistry, believable characters, or a romance with real emotional pull, I would probably skip it.
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All the Atmosphere, Not Enough Bite
This one had so much potential.First of all, the visuals are beautiful. The drama does a really good job of creating that eerie, atmospheric world where the supernatural elements feel like they actually belong in the environment rather than being added on top. The setting, production design and overall mood are easily some of its strongest points.
The characters are interesting too, and I actually think the writing is pretty good overall. That is what makes the drama a little frustrating, because you can see how much better it could have been with tighter pacing and stronger execution.
The funny moments worked really well for me. They gave the drama some personality without completely breaking the mood, and the lighter scenes were probably some of the most naturally enjoyable parts.
Where I wanted much more was the horror.
I know this is not necessarily meant to be a full-on horror series, but honestly… would it have been wrong to make it genuinely scary?
The setup was there. The supernatural elements were there. The atmosphere was there. It just never fully pushed itself into becoming truly unsettling, intense or frightening. I kept waiting for the drama to go one step further, but it always seemed to pull back just before getting there.
That same problem carries into the emotional side of the story. There are scenes and conflicts that should have landed much harder, but they needed more emotional weight and stronger build-up. I understood what the drama wanted me to feel, but I did not always actually feel it.
Nam Joo-hyuk as Gu-cheon and Roh Yoon-seo as Saeng-gang both played their parts well, and I thought they had good chemistry together. The supporting cast was strong too and helped make the world feel more interesting.
What the drama really needed, though, was a stronger villain.
With this kind of supernatural setup, the antagonist should feel genuinely threatening and memorable. A more intimidating villain could have raised the stakes significantly and made both the horror and the emotional conflict much stronger.
The open ending makes it feel like the story is not completely finished, so I really hope they are planning a second season. If they do come back, I would watch it because the foundation is already there. I just hope season two is tighter, darker and more confident.
Overall, East Palace is visually striking, atmospheric and full of potential, with good leads and a strong supporting cast. I enjoyed it, but it never quite pushed its horror, villain or emotional stakes far enough to become as memorable as it could have been.
Worth watching if you enjoy supernatural fantasy with strong visuals and lighter horror elements, but go in knowing that it may leave you wishing it had gone just a little further.
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